One of T.J Oshie’s many nicknames is “Furnace face.” It doesn’t matter if he’s playing hockey, reading a book or sleeping, he can’t get away from the rosy cheeks.

Well, today, you couldn’t take the smile off his face either.

As I mentioned yesterday, Oshie will return to the Blues’ lineup after missing 13 games with a high ankle sprain.

“I’m very excited,” Oshie said. “I’ve been itching to get out there for a long time now. It’s going to feel good to actually get out there and get a shift under my belt.”

Oshie said his ankle feels fine and he’ll try to think about it on the ice.

“I think coming off an injury, one of challenges is not being timid out there and just kind of going for it,” Oshie said. “It’s hard to get back in the swing of things. I’m just going to work hard and keep it simple. I think it’s going to be there, but when I’m playing my best, I’m going 100 percent and not really thinking about anything but my job onn the ice. I think when I get a couple of shifts under me, I won’t be worrying about my ankle at all.”

Oshie will be on a line with Patrik Berglund and David Perron. You can read more about the thoughts of Perron, Oshie and Berglund playing together in Roger Hensley’s “Round Two” blog today. Roger just started the blog this week and he’s doing a tremendous job with it. I know Roger wants to have as much Blues-related information in his blog as possible, so make sure you check it out.

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As mentioned yesterday, it appears the line combinations will look like this:

David Backes-Keith Tkachuk-Brad Boyes

T.J. Oshie-Patrik Berglund-David Perron

Alex Steen-Jay McClement-Yan Stastny

B.J. Crombeen-Cam Paddock-Cam Janssen

D pairings:

Eric Brewer-Roman Polak

Jeff Woywitka-Barret Jackman

Jay McKee-Carlo Colaiacovo

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Blues goalie Chris Mason will be in net tonight for the Blues, which means Mason is the team’s No. 1 goalie for the time being. Tonight will be his fifth start in the Blues’ last seven games.

Though the Blues lost 4-0 on Wednesday, Murray felt Mason was strong and thinks he gives the club the best chance right now. Two of Minnesota’s four goals Wednesday came on the power play and one was an empty-netter. Mason has allowed seven goals on his last 171 shots against.

I was unable to get comment from Manny Legace today because Legace, while ALWAYS friendly with the media, does not talk on game days until after the game.

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I did a story in today’s Post-Dispatch on Paul Kariya’s status. For those of you who didn’t see it, Kariya still isn’t skating and the Blues don’t know when he’ll return.

Kariya had a hip-flexor injury, and looked like he would return Nov. 21 against Anaheim. But when he tried to skate in the days leading up to that game, the injury still nagged him. So he had an MRI and it showed a little more than just a hip-flexor. I don’t know the exact nature of the injury, but sources said that it’s “hip-related.”

Kariya had a streak of 301 consecutive games played snapped when he missed the Blues’ game Nov. 6 in San Jose.

“Anytime you’re not playing one game, it’s frustrating not to be out there with your teammates,” said Kariya, who will miss his 13th consecutive game tonight. “But I’m doing everything I can right now to get back as quickly as possible.”

Today marks one month since the injury.

“It’s not a serious injury,” Blues President John Davidson said. “It’s just taking longer than we expected. But it’s not a serious injury. It just needs time.”

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The Blues will honor Keith Tkachuk in a pregame ceremony before TOMORROW night’s game against Phoenix. Last Sunday, Tkachuk netted his 1,000th NHL point. Tkachuk was the fourth player to accomplish the feat in Blues’ sweater, following Bernie Federko, Al MacInnis and Pierre Turgeon.

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Don’t forget it’s an early start time tonight . . . 7:05 at Scottrade Center.

JR